Yale  University  Prize  Poem 
1905 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


YALE  UNIVERSITY  PRIZE  POEM 


YALE  UNIVERSITY  PRIZE  POEM 


1905 


LUX  ET  VERITAS,  AND 
OTHER  SONNETS 


BY 


GEORGE  BREMNER  TENNANT 


NEW  HAVEN 

THB  TUTTLH,  MOREHOUSE,  &  TAYLOR  Co. 
1905 


536 
IA 


1 


PREFATORY    NOTE 

These  sonnets  received  the  eighth  award  of  the  prize 
offered  by  Professor  Albert  Stanburrough  Cook  to 
Yale  University  for  the  best  unpublished  verse,  the 
Committee  of  Award  consisting  of  Dr.  Charles  G. 
Osgood,  Professor  George  H.  Palmer,  and  Mr. 
Lewis  Frank  Tooker. 


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LUX  ET  VERITAS 

All  powerful  Orb,  thou  source  of  life  and  light, 
Save  us,  who  on  life's  troubled  seas  embark ! 
Bend  thy  strong  rays,  and  drive  away  the  dark, 
Nor  let  our  souls,  enveloped  in  the  night, 
Struggling  in  doubt,  uncertain  of  the  way, 
Meet  shipwreck  in  the  fog  of  unbelief. 
Let  there  be  light  to  show  the  hidden  reef- 
Light  that  shall  make  our  night  a  glorious  day : 
Then  our  unclouded  eyes  may  scan  the  deep, 
Mark  the  true  course,  shut  else  from  out  our  sight ; 
And  though  with  flapping  sails  we  slowly  creep 
Towards  the  home  port,  yet  with  our  bearings  right, 
Steadfast  we'll  be,  nor  let  the  helmsman  sleep. 
On  to  the  end  we'll  go  with  Truth  and  Light ! 


BY  THE  FIRESIDE 

Without,  the  crooning  wind  with  drifting  snow 
Swaddles  the  new-born  year  in  spotless  white ; 
I  hear  the  soft-voiced  music  of  the  night 
Like  a  young  mother's  song,  as,  bending  low 
O'er  her  babe's  cot,  she  bids  the  voyager  go 
Into  the  land  of  dreams.     In  my  firelight 
This  picture  seems  to  live ;  and,  waxing  bright, 
Quickens  my  pulses  with  a  genial  glow. 
My  book  unread  lies  idle  on  my  knee, 
While  visions  of  what  might  be  throng  the  blaze- 
Dramas  in  which  dull  pages  play  no  part. 
A  maid  with  tender  face  and  loving  heart 
Flashes  a  smile  amidst  the  embers'  haze 
That  seems  to  tell  of  Love's  infinity. 


AS  TO  SOLITUDE 

Oft  have  I  learned  of  solitary  joys, 

When  some  sweet  bard,  becoming  Nature's  child, 

Has  breathed  in  song  his  love  of  pathless  wild 

Or  lonely  shore,  where  no  discord  annoys 

The  ear  attuned  to  God ;  where  naught  destroys 

The  inward  eye's  clear  vision  undefiled, 

Which,  by  some  cloud  or  flower  a  time  beguiled, 

Forgets  man's  wanton  world  of  trifling  toys. 

But  as  I  picture  to  myself  the  shore, 

— Its  tawny  sands,  the  white-crowned,  rolling  sea- 

I  love  it  none  the  less,  nay,  rather  more, 

Because  I  feel  that  Nature's  voice  to  me 

Would  ring  out  clearer  far  than  e'er  before 

Down  by  the  soft-lipped  waves,  alone — with  thee ! 


TO  HIS  MISTRESS  SLEEPING 

O  sweet  my  Love,  unlock  those  slumbrous  eyes, 

And  let  those  twin  bright  suns,  now  set  in  sleep, 

Bring  back  a  radiant  day,  and  swiftly  sweep 

All  clouds  of  darkness  from  thy  lover's  skies. 

Look  on  me !     Speak !     Why  should  these  gentle  sighs 

Be  lost  on  thy  deaf  pillow?     See  how  deep 

The  haven  in  those  arms,  where  fast  I'll  keep 

My  argosy,  my  more  than  priceless  prize. 

Part  those  red  lips,  and  with  thy  dimples  make 

The  smile  that  fires  the  tinder  in  my  heart, 

Till  I  could  crush  thee  in  my  close  embrace. 

O  sweet  my  Queen,  bid  drowsy  sleep  depart, 

For  time  is  fleeting  with  relentless  pace : 

My  arms  are  waiting,  dear  one,  come,  awake ! 


LEES 

The  wine  is  gone ;  within  the  glass  remains 

Naught  but  the  lees.     But  still  the  lees  are  there, 

Breathing  a  subtle  fragrance  in  the  air 

Of  that  glad  draught  that  banished  all  my  pains, 

And  tinged  the  garish  day  with  roseate  glow ; 

An  odor  sweet  that  mounts  unto  my  brain, 

And  speaks  of  vanished  joys  that  ne'er  again 

May  live.     But  since  the  way  of  life  is  so — 

Since  joys  are  short,  but  memories  are  long — 

I  linger  o'er  my  wine  with  loving  sips. 

Then  from  my  heart  there  wells  a  burst  of  song 

That  seeks  to  find  expression  on  my  lips ; 

And  when  in  praise  of  wine  friends  sing  their  glees, 

I  praise  wine  too,  but  thank  God  for  the  lees ! 


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